• Music An ephemeral structure and an unexpected gale color the Medusa Festival with tragedy

Those of you who peek at my Twitter account from time to time will know that I usually drop by music festivals.

And although at first it wasn't on my calendar, chance and a good friend who has an apartment in

Cullera

wanted me to come to the

Medusa Festival

this year .

I arrived on Saturday around 12,

devastated by the tragedy

of Friday night.

Even so, I decided to approach the enclosure and I'll tell you what I saw.

Cullera

Music.

An ephemeral structure and an unexpected gale stain the Medusa Festival with tragedy: one young man dead and five hospitalized

  • Drafting: INMA LIDÓNValencia

An ephemeral structure and an unexpected gale stain the Medusa Festival with tragedy: one young man dead and five hospitalized

Witnesses of the Medusa: "The wind was very strong, it burned, but nothing stopped until pieces of the stage and the bars fell"

  • Drafting: INMA LIDÓNValencia

Witnesses of the Medusa: "The wind was very strong, it burned, but nothing stopped until pieces of the stage and the bars fell"

From the highway bridge, the enormous space occupied

by the most massive festival in

our country could be seen majestically, which this year was going to welcome no less than

320,000 young people

who, after three years of the pandemic, were going to give it their all in front of

the beach in Cullera

.

The gigantic

parking lot

, the

campsite

, the

Ferris wheel

, the

scenarios

silhouetted against the horizon... were impressive, but not as impressive as the endless river of

boys in their 20s

who abandoned it sad, crestfallen, dragging their suitcases and belongings and with a unspeakable sadness drawn on his face.

The silence in which they did so was striking, only broken by some comment of indignation at

the death of the 22-year-old

.

I lowered the bridge and I went to the entrances of the festival.

The definitive cancellation of the event had not yet been confirmed, but nobody there wanted to party:

the myriad of attendees leaving the place did not stop

.

Like a salmon going upstream, I waded as far into the enclosure as I could.

The atmosphere was bleak, with fallen fences on the ground, torn objects in the air and a certain sense of chaos.

Only the presence of some security guards gave the sensation of a certain control.

One dead and 40 injured at the Medusa festival due to strong windsTHE WORLD

We asked one of them and he directed us to the

"Incidences"

stand , where a willing worker was struggling to respond to the dozens of disoriented people who approached.

The

festival

had not been officially cancelled, but she herself told us that

"unofficially"

we should consider it finished, and when asked about the return of the money, she indicated that she understood that it would be reimbursed and that we should be attentive to the website and social networks.

"You see how this is"

, she affirmed, and it was not necessary to say more, we all understood the situation.

I thought I would see angry people but I only saw sad and resigned people.

I spoke for a while with one of the attendees

from the night before: he told me that suddenly a scorching wind rose that caused a "sandstorm" that covered the stage.

There was nothing to be seen, and security guards evacuated, guiding the public with their whistles.

"If it wasn't because they risked getting on top of it" many more things would have blown up."

We left the place with the deceased young man and the injured in our thoughts.

From here I send a hug to them and their families.

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